Child+Soldiers

In over twenty countries around the world, children are participants in war. Aproximately 200,000 to 300,000 children are serving as soldiers. Many are recruited by force or abducted, and pressured to serve as a soldiers for rebel groups. They can't refuse because they are intimidated by the government , and are threatened to kill the children. Some of the children joined because of their society downfall, the children thought it would be a safer place for survival. Others were recruited in the army because they thought the armed groups would provide them with food and security. Also, children wanted to join the army to escape from poverty and to take vengeance for their dead family members. These following countries had various reports of the violation of having children under the age of 18 serving in armes forces, like in Burma, Nepal, Uganda, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Columbia, Angola, and Burundi. The conditions back then were even worse for the children becasue it was surprisingly normal for children to fight in war. //This map indicates only situations in which children have actively participated in conflict.It does not show all countries where children are recruited into government armed forces or armed groups. recorded in 2000//
 * Child Soldiers**

Shockingly, around the 1940's the government didn't do anything to stop this violation because back then it was normal for the children to fight for their country and die for it. For instance, during World War II an extreme amount children particpated in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, the Vietnam War, and the Iran-Iraq War. All of the children under the age of 18 were basically forced to serve in the military and in some rare cases, Jewish boys were forced to take part in military training by a law signed by Nicholas I of Russia. Overall, the chidlren felt that were being mistreated and direspected by the government violating their right as a human. According to Amnesty International, "An estimated 300,000 children part take in some sort of military group under the age of eighteen in at least 30 countries and almost every continent. Children serve as spotters, observers, and message-carriers. media type=



[|child soldiers overview] [|Voice of Child Soldiers] [|Stopping use of Child Soldiers]